Electrical slide switches are well known in the art as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,485,966 and 3,502,825. In these switches the slider or sliders, which are connected to an actuator, establish electrical contact with terminals that are individually mounted in a terminal board.
In switches of this type, the terminals have to be inserted through openings in the terminal board and thereafter secured in place by spreading portions of the terminals above the terminal board. These portions of the terminals which extend above the terminal board are contacted by the slider or sliders mounted in the actuator and therefore have to be perfectly aligned. The mounting of these terminals in the terminal board is a rather tedious operation requiring careful control.
In addition to the labor problems involved in making slider switches of the type described, these switches also suffer from a disadvantage that is common to slider switches in general, namely that the movement of the slider elements from one position to another abrades and erodes the contact terminals and tends to reduce the life of the switch.